Leasing/buying car (or any other option)

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by snowbelle

Mr Tom has as usual some good points on the car buying / leasing game.
I am curious about the leasing aspect though, I have just seen a post from someone in my organisation about his lease car, he said when he took it back at the end of the term the company stung him for a couple of grand due to dings and some scratches ...what would be regarded as natural wear and tear .. is this right ?
* I have just read car wows pros and cons of car leasing .. and it seems that it is right.

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This is how it worked with me

I test drove the car I fancied at my local Sytner.

I then showed my hand and said I had found a car I liked but it was in Sytner Tamworth.
They then valued my car and spotted a kerbed rear nearside wheel (me!) and a small chip on the back door.

They then gave me a price for the car I was happy with.

I didn't bother telling them about the 2 stone chips on the windscreen 1 of which was bad or the kerbed front nearside alloy! You snooze you lose.

Then the haggling started and lasted nearly an hour. I won.

[gl20]

Always an area of interest for me as a petrolhead, finance-guy who worked in the automotive industry and whose wife is still in the industry and worked as a dealer zone manager.

It is understandably hard to make sense of what is a sensible way of financing as the market is opaque as is an individual deal. Are you doing PEx? Do you want options? What finance options are you talking? What margin does the dealer make on each part of the deal? What variable marketing/ temporary promotions are available?


When a dealer offers a price/deal, all these components will be factored in but won't likely split them out. Even if they do, trying to make a like-for-like comparison with another dealer will be almost impossible and the dealers themselves will do what they can to discourage this!


Best advice I can give:

- Even if you have the cash to buy outright, consider finance anyway. The dealer can often get you a better overall deal. Worth asking if it will make a difference (on the proviso that, if the interest rate is terrible, you will want to pay it off immediately).

- Try to do the sums yourself. It will mean considering, deposit, what you can expect to get back (best you can do here is look at today's values for the car in question that's say 3 years old, if that's how long you plan to keep it for), monthly payments, servicing, repairs etc. Delete/ignore bits that don't apply (e.g. with lease you'd only consider deposit and payments, with a new car you can likely ignore repairs). You need to do this as different finance deals will have different market support. Take leasing - in some months some more regular cars that are nearing a model upgrade will have fantastic deals, whereas if you want a lease on the just released Porsche 992, the deals will be terrible.

- If all that feels impossible then... go with a lease (in my opinion). Yes, you could end up paying more but, a bit like buying your dollars now, at least you know where you stand and can't get stung down the line. I've not leased myself as, for me, I've found better ways to finance on the particular cars I wanted, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't consider a lease if it was the best deal at a point in time on the car I wanted.


- Whichever way you finance it, remember that financing through the dealer tends to be more costly than using a web company.


- And finally.. if anyone ever says 'don't finance it this way or that way because it's a depreciating asset', please send them my way for a talking too. Really bugs me when dealers spin that line. As someone mentioned earlier up, why aren't they regulated like most lenders are?

[captain-codeye]

My fil just purchased a new car, he just wanted to pay for it but the dealer told him to finance it at a stupid apr.

He was told to take the finance, then the dealer can offer 3 years free servicing and a deeper discount on the new price. He was advised at ring and settle in full about 3 days after taking delivery and keep all the benefits of finance, seemed shady to me!

[gl20]

Originally Posted by captain-codeye

My fil just purchased a new car, he just wanted to pay for it but the dealer told him to finance it at a stupid apr.

He was told to take the finance, then the dealer can offer 3 years free servicing and a deeper discount on the new price. He was advised at ring and settle in full about 3 days after taking delivery and keep all the benefits of finance, seemed shady to me!

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It's all good. Done that a few times myself! Dealer may ask you to hold off a bit as they may lose their commission if you pay it off immediately. To the extent it's a bit naughty, frankly that's their risk not yours (so long as you check the paperwork to ensure you won't be penalised for early settlement).

In these cases a high APR could be seen as a good thing since that means the manufacturer/their finance arm is giving nothing away on the finance and therefore are hopefully giving a different type of dealer incentive instead that the salesperson will likely pass on in part to you and/or will be more inclined to give up in the negotiation (typically they'll have more freedom to do this then they will with the APR).

[scoobydooby]

I bought a new car 14 years ago cash. Very basic model fiesta. I ran it for 4 years then part exchanged it (made a very decent deposit) for a new CIA Ceed. Paid that off in three years and again part exchanged it at four years (decent deposit again) for a Nissan Juke. I had planned on doing the same again but we hit the Uni years so I’ve decided to keep it and run it into the ground then I’ll have a pony up a deposit and buy new again. While it isn’t going wrong it suits me as I can better use the money to pay my son’s rent. I’m bored with it now though !

[caj]

Originally Posted by mitch84

It really depend what you want out of a car. If you are set on a brand new car, then leasing is the best bet, safer than PCP, and hassle free, especially if you want a new one in 2-3 years anyway.
I want a nice, reliable car to take me from A-B, so I buy 3 years old, low mileage, preferably private, and drive it until it starts to cost real money. I'll still get a reasonable amount back on a private sale, and I buy another 3 year old car. In that time, likely I'll have only done tyres and brakes type thing.
I find that the 'cheapest' way. Admittedly I needed the £9k to buy my high spec Seat Leon, but I bought it 18 months ago and so far it has cost me £250..

OH literally wants a car to take him A to B, and he scruffs it up because we have dogs and horses, so he never spends more than £1k on a car, preferably £500, and he uses that as a little mode of transport, and we use my Leon for any long drives.

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That's what we've done. One more expensive 'long journey ' car that's a few years old. And an 18 yo 106 that cost £300! It runs fine and will do till it breaks, enabling us to save to trade up a bit.
Kids have a 10 yr old Skoda that today at service and mot today was described as a solid little workhorse. If the kids want trendier and newer then they can go out and buy one themselves!

[familyofthree]

Originally Posted by PoohBears#1fan

I definitely need to explore it a little more, my SLC will be 2 years old in November so I'll start looking properly in a few months. So torn between another little convertible or a 4x4. How are you finding the CLA?

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We love it. We have an auto which my OH twisted my arm to get, he drives a bus for a living and he got bored of changing gear!
Would definitely recommend leasing over PCP.

[familyofthree]

Originally Posted by darbs

Which company do you lease with? Am thinking that leasing sounds like a good idea!

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It really works for us, we use select car leasing. Deposit is flexible anything from 3 to 9 months rental as a deposit I think. There are special offers on certain cars which change regularly, we weren't looking for a specific car so just went with one that was within our budget which we both liked.

[darbs]

Originally Posted by familyofthree

It really works for us, we use select car leasing. Deposit is flexible anything from 3 to 9 months rental as a deposit I think. There are special offers on certain cars which change regularly, we weren't looking for a specific car so just went with one that was within our budget which we both liked.

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Thank you that's great to know, off for a look now!

[Tracydcp]

Have a look at Nationwide Vehicle Contracts. I’m a few months into my first lease car with them after seeing people recommend them on here. Got a really good deal on a brand new Renault Captur that I couldn’t beat anywhere else.